Possible Role of Endogenous Retinoid (Vitamin A) Toxicity in the Pathophysiology of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis

✍ Scribed by JASON M ERICKSON; ANTHONY R MAWSON

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 129 KB
• Volume: 206
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5193
• DOI: 10.1006/jtbi.2000.2102

✦ Synopsis

Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) is a chronic, cholestatic disease of unknown etiology commonly a!ecting women. It is characterized by progressive destruction of the small intrahepatic bile ducts and portal in#ammation, leading to "brosis and cirrhosis. The major signs and symptoms of PBC, which include pruritus, lethargy, the sicca syndrome, and osteoporosis, closely resemble the manifestations of hypervitaminosis A. Based on a review of the literature and other observations connecting PBC with retinoid metabolism (vitamin A and its derivatives), the hypothesis is proposed that exposure to excess endogenous retinoids contributes to the pathogenesis of PBC and may be to the cause of some of the signs and symptoms associated with the disease.